Bará, S. (2017). Characterizing the zenithal night sky brightness in large territories: how many samples per square kilometre are needed? Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 473(3), 4164–4173.

Abstract: A recurring question arises when trying to characterize, by means of measurements or theoretical calculations, the zenithal night sky brightness throughout a large territory: how many samples per square kilometre are needed? The optimum sampling distance should allow reconstructing, with sufficient accuracy, the continuous zenithal brightness map across the whole region, whilst at the same time avoiding unnecessary and redundant oversampling. This paper attempts to provide some tentative answers to this issue, using two complementary tools: the luminance structure function and the Nyquist–Shannon spatial sampling theorem. The analysis of several regions of the world, based on the data from the New world atlas of artificial night sky brightness, suggests that, as a rule of thumb, about one measurement per square kilometre could be sufficient for determining the zenithal night sky brightness of artificial origin at any point in a region to within ±0.1 magV arcsec–2 (in the root-mean-square sense) of its true value in the Johnson–Cousins V band. The exact reconstruction of the zenithal night sky brightness maps from samples taken at the Nyquist rate seems to be considerably more demanding.

Bará, S. (2017). Variations on a classical theme: On the formal relationship between magnitudes per square arcsecond and luminance. Intl J of Sustainable Lighting, 19(2), 77.

Abstract: The formal link between magnitudes per square arcsecond and luminance is discussed in this paper. Directly related to the human visual system, luminance is defined in terms of the spectral radiance of the source, weighted by the CIE V(l) luminous efficiency function, and scaled by the 683 lm/W luminous efficacy constant. In consequence, any exact and spectrum-independent relationship between luminance and magnitudes per square arcsecond requires that the last ones be measured precisely in the CIE V(l) band. The luminance value corresponding to mVC=0 (zero-point of the CIE V(l) magnitude scale) depends on the reference source chosen for the definition of the magnitude system. Using absolute AB magnitudes, the zero point luminance of the CIE V(l) photometric band is 10.96 x 104 cd·m-2.

Abstract: Light plays a key role in the regulation of different physiological processes, through several visual and non-visual retinal phototransduction channels whose basic features are being unveiled by recent research. The growing body of evidence on the significance of these effects has sparked a renewed interest in the determination of the light field at the entrance pupil of the eye in indoor spaces. Since photic interactions are strongly wavelength-dependent, a significant effort is being devoted to assess the relative merits of the spectra of the different types of light sources available for use at home and in the workplace. The spectral content of the light reaching the observer eyes in indoor spaces, however, does not depend exclusively on the sources: it is partially modulated by the spectral reflectance of the walls and surrounding surfaces, through the multiple reflections of the light beams along all possible paths from the source to the observer. This modulation can modify significantly the non-visual photic inputs that would be produced by the lamps alone, and opens the way for controlling—to a certain extent—the subject's exposure to different regions of the optical spectrum. In this work we evaluate the expected magnitude of this effect and we show that, for factorizable sources, the spectral modulation can be conveniently described in terms of a set of effective filter-like functions that provide useful insights for lighting design and light pollution assessment. The radiance field also provides a suitable bridge between indoor and outdoor light pollution studies.

Abstract: Sky Quality Meter, a low cost and pocket size night sky brightness photometer, opens to the general public the possibility to quantify the quality of the night sky. Expecting a large diffusion of measurements taken with this instrument, I tested and characterized it. I analyzed with synthetic photometry and laboratory measurements the relationship between the SQM photometrical system and the main systems used in light pollution studies. I evaluated the conversion factors to Johnsonâs B and V bands, CIE photopic and CIE scotopic responses for typical spectra and the spectral mismatch correction factors when specific filters are added.

Abstract: We present a portable automatic instrument for monitoring night sky brightness and atmospherical transparency in astronomical photometrical bands. Main requirements were: fast and automatic coverage of the entire sky, lightness, transportability and quick set-up in order to take measurements from more sites in the same night, easily available commercial components and software to be reproduced by any interested institution, included amateurs astronomers groups.